Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Blood on the Floor of the Synod

It's not easy being a senior female clergyperson in the Church of England these days. You want power, real power, not the pale imitation that comes with being an Archdeacon, or even a Dean. No, you want the real thing, you want to be a bishop.

consecrate!

And it was so close, so very, very close. Friends were knitting presentation vestments, you've spotted that ring, the gold one that you've always wanted, and Watts has sized you up for a miter. The Episcopal Palace has been redecorated at least a dozen times, in your mind. You almost livetherealready!

living the dream

Then, today, the dream came crashing down. The Church of England's House of Laity said no. Maybe, in 5 years time, when the Measure resurfaces, you'll be retired and the Christian world will heave a sigh of relief.

So ‘Oily’ Welby fell at the first, the Etonian fixer failed to get the deal through Synod and there is now much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Credit must go to the Evangelicals for some slickly organised resistance, those old ‘Ironsides’ certainly demonstrated ‘they knew what they loved, and loved what they knew’. They would have made Oliver Cromwell proud! When Obama narrowly beat Romney it was curtains for the current Republican agenda, whereas in the C of E the Laity – the punters and the church’s cash-cow ̶ can reject Women bishops a million times and the establishment will stick it back on the agenda until they get the result they want. A lot of vested interests want the C of E to be Radio 4 at Prayer and the Laity to shut-up and cough-up the dosh. On the ground the different agendas are obvious, at the local church the Woman minister has asked the congregation to fund an artist-in-residence, whereas the largely elderly and female congregation decided to help establish a local food bank, along with other churches and secular organisations. The money for the artist-in-residence was not forth-coming but the much needed local food bank is up and running. Showing those empathetic skills so important in the ministry the Rev Ms didn’t get the hint but managed to get a grant that paid for half an artist in residence. For American and Texan readers, an artist-in-residence is like a clown, only not that funny.Across the C of E, the Laity has started to get uppity with much of the present management for good reason, their running the business into the ground while riding rough-shod over the will of the majority of ‘shareholders’. Like the PM, ‘Oily’ and chums have taken their core supporters for granted and pursued their own agenda down such a narrow alley-way they can neither turnaround nor reverse.The major problem for the establishment after the vote is that the Laity are now going to be a lot more cocky, making their task of bring the Church into line with secular morality all the more difficult. The establishment could back-down or offer a compromise deal to the dissenting Laity, but that is not going to happen ‘cos they’re not that intelligent. So rather than preaching the Gospel or facing-up to its ethical responsibility to assist the poor and vulnerable in the worst economic crisis in 70 years, the good old C of E is going to engage in a pointless civil war.

Neat analysis, Anon. I particularly like "artist in residence". We have those here, oddly. Mostly on the East & West Coasts (go figure) and perhaps there's a couple in Austin. Austin, you may have heard, is about to leave Texas and head to San Francisco. Much cheering, applause and rowdier Western style celebration...

Oily & Co will doubtless have their way but to what end?

I'd say the trajectory points to fewer and fewer pew punters and you'd think that'd cause the Fixer to pause and reflect on the wisdom of the course.